


Rich Boys Don't Cry

by Melethril



Series: Through Metal and Silk [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Behind the Scenes, Gen, Mentions Bullying, Not Steve Friendly, Rhodey is only mentioned, The Avengers (2012) Compliant, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-30
Updated: 2016-07-30
Packaged: 2018-07-28 07:31:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7630828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melethril/pseuds/Melethril
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Howard Stark had been distant, cold and calculating. He had never told Tony he loved him or even that he liked him. However, he had given some good advice. </p>
<p>Starks Do Not Get Bullied.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rich Boys Don't Cry

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, still working through CA:CW, and I know this is getting repetitive, but this scene… this freaking scene already pissed me off the first time I watched it.
> 
> The Captain America I heard about shouldn't be like this.

Howard Stark had been distant, cold and calculating. He had never told Tony he loved him or even that he liked him. However, he had given some good advice.

_‘It doesn’t matter if they are your business partners or rivals. At business dinners or fundraisers, always have a full glass in your hand, but never drink more than you can handle. Give them impression of being a little tipsy, and, when they suspect it the least, that’s when you strike.’_

_‘Business is a desert and its players are vultures. Show no mercy; you won’t receive any in return. They are waiting to pick your bones.’_

_‘Stark Industries has priority. This is our legacy and its employees our responsibility. Never jeopardize their livelihood for your own gain.’_

_‘Stark Men don’t cry. We are made of iron. No Stark has ever been bullied, you won’t be the first.’_

Well, his success rate was approximately 35% (with 20% being Howard’s first piece of advice), which was…something. Not good, but… He had a killer instinct, and to challenge him on business level was not a good idea (after all, they would also have to deal with Pepper Potts, and that would only lead to their demise). However, his father had never been able to make him ignore that if you ruined a rival, you destroyed the livelihood of other employees… so he had shown mercy in the past. He had jeopardized the future of SI employees by shutting down his company’s most profitable branch. And…

Well, he had cried, he had been weak, but bullying was relative, right?

The primary dictionary definition of ‘bully‘ was ‘ _a blustering, quarrelsome, overbearing person who habitually badgers and intimidates smaller or weaker people_.’

So he had cried, while he had also become Iron Man. However, he had never been bullied. If you were blustering, quarrelsome, overbearing and habitually badgered or intimidated people; and most people he met held less power than he did, so… Boarding school did not count. He had been young, and later at college, well, he had just been a bit too young and too smart with a big mouth. They had not bullied him. So what if some of the bigger guys had loved to plant themselves in front of him after he had made a smartass comment? He had brought this upon himself in way, right? He was rich and self-entitled. People like that did the bullying; they could not possibly be bullied in return.

You had to be able to take whatever you dished out; Tony was good at that. He was used to make himself taller than he was, including wearing heightened soles, moving into people’s spaces, and straightening his back whenever he was around others. And if none of that worked, well, there was his mouth that could hurl insults faster than his victims could comprehend.

He was the bully; he had never been a victim of bullying. Of course, that did not explain Rhodey, who was as fierce as a lion protecting its cub when it came to Tony, especially if people were a little intolerant of Tony’s standard operation procedure.

_‘They had no right to do that, Tony, why did you not tell me they were bullying you?” The young man looked furious._

_“I was not being_ bullied _, Rhodey, don’t be ridiculous,” contradicted the fifteen-year-old. “I was just running my mouth as usual.”_

_“They shoved you in a closet and intended to just leave you there! I’ll talk to their CO. People like this have no place in the Air Force!”_

_“Oh yes, they trapped me for all but thirty seconds before I figured how to get out. I simply waited to make sure they were gone. Don’t talk to Miller, Rhodey, he doesn’t like me, and he could hinder your career. Let it go.”_

_“Then Major Miller shouldn’t be in the Air Force either!”_

_“Rhodey, don’t! You know I appreciate your ‘Mama bear’ routine, but they weren’t bullying me. They simply didn’t like me.”_

_“So next time one of these idiots, who couldn’t even hope to understand a fraction of what you can do, comes up from behind and physically intimidates you, I’m supposed to just sit back and watch?” asked Rhodey incredulously._

_“I do the same thing all the time,” interjected Tony._

_“No. You always attack from where they can see you coming. You don’t have any respect for physical space, true, but only if you stress-test people. That’s just what you do. You test at what point they’ll snap, so you can see it coming in the future. You don’t dominate people nearly as much as you could. You don’t force yourself or your opinions on them.”_

_Tony loved Rhodey so much. If he could somehow bottle how his best friend made him feel, nothing would ever be able to hurt him in any way. He had James Rhodes. Who the hell needed people if you had an angel at your side? Anyway, his friend did not see the issue here._

_“I’m an asshole, a bully and rich, and some people would say the three characteristics are interchangeable. Bullies don’t get bullied.”_

_“I’m sure Captain America would have to say a thing or two about bullies. You care too much to be one, Tones,” contradicted Rhodey fiercely, but the name alone was enough to make Tony’s blood boil._

_“I do not give a_ fuck _about what Captain America has to say.”_

Nearly thirty years later, Tony wanted to slap his fifteen-year-old self (could you even bully yourself?). Steve Rogers and Tony had gotten along like a house on fire; as in, the house was on fire and the firefighters could not reach the house in time, and they were too busy fighting to notice the smoke.

Steve had not been impressed by Tony, and Tony…? Well, try spending your entire childhood being compared to Captain America and how you could not possibly hope to live up to the legend, like the intimidating big brother you had never grown up with, only to be thrown into the same room with said idol/rival, and then try not come off as a rebellious little shit.

However, Tony was still surprised how quickly things had escalated between them. Tony was tense, and he felt small for the first time in years. Steve looked at him and saw every flaw, every chink in the armor, and the super soldier seemed bitterly disappointed in what he saw.

“Big man in a suit of armor.” The disgust practically dripped from each syllable as Steve came up from behind only to step right into Tony’s comfort zone, which, honestly, Tony had no right to complain about. He did that all the time, had done that since he was twelve years old. However, Steve Rogers was big. Tony could feel the heat and power radiate from the man, and he could not bring himself to look at the man his father had loved more than his own son; Howard had been right.

_“Steve has never liked spoiled little brats, boy. He was good, better than good, the paragon of virtue. You? You think just because you have a bit of smarts that you are better than everyone else. If he was here, he would tell you exactly what he thinks of entitled little shits like you.”_

“Take that off, what are you?”

_Starks do not get bullied._

“Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist,” Tony responded lightly, his heart beating fast as he forced himself to look at the taller, much stronger man.

What he received in return was a smile filled with disgusted amusement.

“I know guys with none of that worth ten of you.“ Tony felt his skin tingle. Howard had truly known Steve better than everyone else. “I've seen the footage. The only thing you really fight for is yourself. You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you.”

_Starks do not get bullied._

“I think I would just cut the wire,” Tony countered coldly. His numbness was replaced by fury. Rogers had known him for less than a day, and he already knew all of his forty years of life? Fuck that! Well, two could play this game.

He was a Stark.

“Always a way out... You know, you may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero.”

Something in Tony broke; that inner little boy who had grown up too quickly and not at all, and who had worshipped Captain America cried out. That kid in boarding school who had continued to believe that if Steve Rogers was here, he would stand up for him. Tony would do his best to avenge the kid that never stood a chance.

“A hero? Like you? You're a lab rat, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle!” Tony hissed as rage consumed him.

**Author's Note:**

> I prefer fanfic!Cap; he is that paragon of goodness everybody praises him as (in most stories I've read at least). I used to like MCU!Cap, but that freaking scene was always a thorn in my side, CA:CW and then some deep scene searching made me doubt if I actually like MCU!Cap or just the idea of Captain America.  
> But then, I am 100% biased when it comes to Tony Stark as well, so… I may be wrong about this.
> 
> AvengersAssemble!cartoon!Steve is a complete asshole, though, but the whole team is dysfunctional so…
> 
> Added to my Tony & Rhodey series because of the flashbacks; and because Rhodey deserves more love.
> 
> Also, the stress-test idea was inspired by icarus_chained's brilliant story 'Stress Test'. Everything he/she wrote for MCU was brilliant, BTW.


End file.
